Thanks for the reply Linus. I'm using the data step because, as far as I'm aware, I'm unable to issue commands to the OS from Enterprise Guide. Having said that, I'd be delighted to be proved wrong in this - copying a file byte by byte is clunky in my opinion and it would be far easier and more convenient to be able to direct Windows to perform this step itself.
As it happens, I've got it working by changing the name of the range 'aException' to 'bException', and re-ordering the sheets in the workbook - this makes no sense to me but I'll take it. It may well help to clear the filename after the copy (which I've now done), but I suspect the problem may be something to do with interaction between SAS/Access and the JET provider. There are a couple of other defined names in the workbook which refer to formulae rather than to static ranges, and thus require evaluation by Excel before returning any values. Even though the SAS script does not refer to these names at all, in my experience JET has trouble with these sorts of names (i.e. they can interfere with JET reading other names). I'm now considering whether it might be worth redesigning the workbook so that dynamic names are no longer used.
Cheers
Geoff
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